Competition and cooperation between high-speed rail and air transportation services in Europe

New high-speed rail (HSR) lines may have an enormous influence on the provision of air services. The attention has been devoted to competition between both transportation modes but in some cases HSR services may also have an intermodal complementary role with air transportation. By taking a supply oriented empirical analysis, we study the impact of HSR on air service frequencies and seats offered by airlines in large European countries. We emphasize the distinction between routes with and without a hub airport as an endpoint and we also examine the influence of the location of the HSR station. We generally find direct competition between HSR and airlines, but we also provide some evidence that HSR can provide feeding services to long haul air services in hub airports, particularly in hub airports with HRS stations.     

An investigation of service quality,customer satisfaction and loyalty in China's airline market

Customer loyalty is a source of competitive advantage and an important intangible asset to any organisations, but empirical evidence from China's airline market regarding the determinants of passenger satisfaction and loyalty is lacking. This paper investigates the service quality of four major airlines in China's domestic market and explores the links between their service quality and customer satisfaction, as well as the conditions under which airlines can retain existing passengers. In line with previous studies, service quality variables are significant factors influencing customer satisfaction levels. However, satisfactory service was not found to result in higher customer loyalty among business travellers. In comparison to Hainan Airlines, passengers who travelled with Air China, China Southern and China Eastern were more likely to switch to an alternate carrier, indicating lower levels of brand loyalty. In addition, the frequent flyer programs (FFPs) have been largely a failure for the four major airlines in terms of increasing customer loyalty, as revealed in this study. It is necessary to draw distinctions between business and leisure travellers when studying the determinants of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Ticket pricing had a positive and significant effect on passengers' overall satisfaction and in turn strengthened customer loyalty among leisure travellers, but achieved no impact on the satisfaction and loyalty of business passengers. Some demographic variables such as gender, income and education are statistically significant for one group of passengers but not for another in the probit models estimated. It is suggested that different marketing strategies may be used to target different market segments to improve customer loyalty.     

The effects of China's airline mergers on prices

This paper looks at the effects of some of the recent airline mergers in China. Overall, no significant airfare increases are found in a sample of markets served by the merged China Eastern and China Southern after 2002; indeed in most of the markets directly affected airfares declined. This was despite the absence of antitrust laws and enforcement over the period. However, market power was possibly exercised after the mergers in China Eastern's hub-to-hub networks.     

Air and high-speed rail transport integration on profits and welfare: Effects of air-rail connecting time

Air-rail integration has become a popular idea to relieve airport congestion and environmental impact of transport industry, especially amid the fast expansion of high-speed rail network around the world. This study examines the circumstances under which air-rail integration can be better justified, by focusing on the effects of reducing air-rail connecting time on transport operators' profits, consumer surplus, and social welfare. We show that while consumers always benefit from less air-rail connecting time (an integrated hub with seamless transfer between air and rail services is always preferred by passengers), operators of the two modes, air transport and high-speed rail, won't have an incentive to integrate unless the cost of integration is sufficiently low. Nonetheless, reducing air-rail connecting time enhances total surplus when the hub airport suffers from a certain degree of capacity constraint and the cost of air-rail integration is not too high.     

The impacts of high-speed rail extensions on accessibility and spatial equity changes in South Korea from 2004 to 2018

The construction of South Korean High-Speed Rail (HSR) or Korea Train eXpress (KTX) has been evolving in phases since its first operation in 2004. This development raises concerns whether the benefits from the extended HSR network would again be limited to the initial HSR corridors and will deepen the inequalities in accessibility with the rising issue of uneven regional development of the country. This paper measures the accessibility of each stage of HSR network extension and evaluates its spatial distribution, variation, and changes using weighted averaged travel time and potential accessibility indicators. The results of this study find different accessibility impacts from each stage of HSR extension. Although travel-time reduction and increased attractions have been widened in more cities by each HSR extension, the spatial equity is degenerated by the extension in 2010/2011 as the improvement of accessibility has been concentrated in cities along the primary HSR corridor near the already-advantageous Seoul capital area. In contrast, the future HSR extension in 2018 will enhance equitable accessibility to the isolated regions such as the northeast and the southwest regions of the country. However, the relative degree of accessibility improvement will not be large enough for increasing the spatial equity of accessibility without more extended HSR networks between provinces.     

Optimizing station location and fleet composition for a high-speed rail line

This paper proposes a new strategic planning model for high-speed rail ventures. It is a mixed-integer optimization model that applies to a given line and focuses on two key strategic decisions: station location and fleet composition. Our purpose is to improve on previous station location models by including fleet composition decisions. In the new model, we additionally take into account in an approximate fashion the interrelationships between strategic and subsequent tactical decisions, regarding line planning, train scheduling and fleet assignment issues. The usefulness of the model is demonstrated for a case study involving a planned Lisbon-Oporto high-speed rail line.     

Territorial cohesion impacts of high-speed rail under different zoning systems

Large-scale transport infrastructure projects such as high-speed rail (HSR) produce significant effects on the spatial distribution of accessibility. These effects, commonly known as territorial cohesion effects, are receiving increasing attention in the research literature. However, there is little empirical research into the sensitivity of these cohesion results to methodological issues such as the definition of the limits of the study area or the zoning system. In a previous paper (Ortega et al., 2012), we investigated the influence of scale issues, comparing the cohesion results obtained at four different planning levels. This paper makes an additional contribution to our research with the investigation of the influence of zoning issues. We analyze the extent to which changes in the size of the units of analysis influence the measurement of spatial inequalities.The methodology is tested by application to the Galician (north-western) HSR corridor, with a length of nearly 670 km, included in the Spanish PEIT (Strategic Transport and Infrastructure Plan) 2005–2020. We calculated the accessibility indicators for the Galician HSR corridor and assessed their corresponding territorial distribution. We used five alternative zoning systems depending on the method of data representation used (vector or raster), and the level of detail (cartographic accuracy or cell size). Our results suggest that the choice between a vector-based and raster-based system has important implications. The vector system produces a higher mean accessibility value and a more polarized accessibility distribution than raster systems. The increased pixel size of raster-based systems tends to give rise to higher mean accessibility values and a more balanced accessibility distribution. Our findings strongly encourage spatial analysts to acknowledge that the results of their analyses may vary widely according to the definition of the units of analysis.     

The impact of low cost airline entry on competition, network expansion, and stock valuations

We conduct event studies and statistical analysis to explore the impact of low cost carriers’ entry on legacy airline stock prices. Oligopoly structures, entry barriers, and high fixed costs make the airline industry highly susceptible to competitive and network expansion impact of low cost airlines’ entry. Positive stock returns are observed, which we interpret as the spillover effects of network expansion. Thus, rising passenger traffic and improved connectivity increase the revenues of legacy airlines to sufficiently offset the low cost carriers’ competitive threats.     

The impact of hubbing concentration on flight delays within airline networks: An empirical analysis of the US domestic market

This paper explores the relationship between hubbing activities and flight delays in the United States from an airline-specific network perspective. Airline hubbing is measured with the Hubbing Concentration Index. We estimate the impact of hubbing behavior on delays, using three measures of delay, two based on delay against schedule, and the third based on buffer-corrected excess travel times. A significant (and positive) influence of hubbing concentration can only be found for the latter delay indicator. We conclude that airlines use buffer times to mitigate passenger-perceived delays against schedule that would, without buffers, arise from more complex network operations.     

Evaluating accessibility impacts of the proposed America 2050 high-speed rail corridor for the Appalachian Region

Transportation improvements are often considered to be precursors of economic growth. This paper examines industry-specific ‘attractiveness’ due to changes in the transportation network for 23 counties in the Appalachian Region. The network improvements result from new highway construction and the proposed America 2050 High-Speed Rail (HSR) plan for the Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion. The impacted counties that are proximate to five HSR stations (Birmingham, Atlanta, Greenville, Charlotte, and Greensboro) are studied for potential accessibility changes between the years 2002 to 2035. The impacts are examined with respect to six key industry sectors found around the proposed HSR stations: manufacturing; retail; construction; mining, quarrying, oil and gas extraction; health-care services; and all other remaining industries combined. The analysis shows that, for transportation improvements with highways only (and no HSR), a decrease in accessibility for all the impacted counties occurs for the six industry sectors examined in the future year of 2035. The HSR speed of 150 miles per hour is found to be adequate enough to cause positive changes in potential accessibility of the directly impacted counties containing the Birmingham and Greenville HSR stations. With combined transportation network improvements from both highway construction and the new 150 mph HSR line, counties around the Atlanta and Greensboro HSR stations would see accessibility increases in 2035 compared to 2002 with respect to five industry sectors: manufacturing; retail; construction; health-care services; and all other remaining industries combined. However, accessibility changes with respect to mining, quarrying, oil and gas extraction would be positive specifically only for the indirectly impacted counties around the Atlanta HSR station and the county containing the Greenville HSR station. This clearly shows differences in the spatial distribution of attractiveness for different industry sectors across the impacted counties along the HSR corridor. Thus, this exploratory analysis could serve as an aid to proactive public policy decision-making for large-scale transportation network improvements, such as the HSR, in understanding and improving economic activities for different industry mixes across other regions of the United States.     

Calculating load factors for the transatlantic airline market using supply and demand data – A note on the identification of gaps in the available airline statistics

This paper takes a critical view of the verification of load factors for the direct transatlantic airline market by combining supply and demand-data. The supply-related data originate from the Official Airline Guide, a well-known data source that contains information on scheduled flights. The demand-related data originate from the Marketing Information Data Transfer database, a data set containing information on actual airline bookings. Combining both data sets enables us to calculate the seat occupancy of direct flights between North-West Europe and the US for 2001. Based on the results, we assess the utility of the joint use of these data sources for aviation economic research, and identify various gaps in the available airline statistics.     

中国高铁客站的创新与实践

高速铁路客站,既是高速铁路的重要组成部分,也是国家综合交通体系的重要节点和带动城市发展不可或缺的重要因子。伴随着我国高速铁路的快速发展．铁路客站的建设迎来了难得的发展机遇。历经6年多的探索与实践,我国高速铁路客站在建设理念、关键技术、工程管理等方面取得了重要进展。介绍中国铁路客站的规划与进展,剖析中国高铁客站建设存在的挑战,简述中国高铁客站的建设目标和实施路径,总结中国高铁客站取得的显著成效。     

Evolution of global airline strategic alliance and consolidation in the twenty-first century

Global airline strategic alliances have emerged since the late 1980s, and their number has slowly risen through the years. Will the number of such alliances continue to proliferate? Or will airlines consolidate with one another to form mega-carriers? In this paper, the likelihood of various airline consolidation and alliance development possibilities was examined based on a number of high-level trends and forces. The most probable near-term industry alliance and consolidation structure is described, accompanied with a probable path of evolution. These predictions have important implications for managers of strategic alliances, carriers who are currently in an alliance as well as carriers who are planning to join one.     

Effect of concentration in airline market on Spanish airport technical efficiency

This paper tries to measure the effect of airline market concentration on airport technical efficiency. With this aim, a Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) is applied, estimating with a one-step procedure technical efficiency and the effect of airlines' market power on that efficiency. Results suggest that when airports are lowly concentrated increasing concentration reduces such inefficiencies. However, this effect practically disappears when airports are highly concentrated. Additionally, the government's policies to improve airports' performance seems to have a positive effect in the short run.     

The impact of COVID-19 on airline passenger travel behavior: An exploratory analysis on the Chinese aviation market

China was the first airline market in the world to be hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been gradually recovering as the pandemic is largely contained domestically. However, with the global pandemic spread and great uncertainty, there has been a remarkable change in airline passengers’ travel behavior. This paper collected air passenger-level data from TravelSky in the Chinese market. In addition to the analyses on aggregate passenger flow patterns, this paper explores changes in airline passenger travel behavior, such as ticket booking time, age distribution of passengers, refunds and ticket changes, and passenger arrival time at airports. This is one of the first studies to focus on micro-level changes in airline passenger travel behavior by using objective passenger-level data. The pandemic-induced psychological changes in air travelers are explored, providing useful managerial and policymaking implications for the normalization of the pandemic and the recovery of the airline market in the post-pandemic era.     

High-speed rail and regional development: the case of intermediate stations

High-speed rail has developed both nationally and internationally in Europe as a successful alternative to both air and road over distances of 400–600 km. Inter-city traffic, especially between the major metropolitan areas in North-west Europe has benefitted greatly from the investment in this network. This paper explores two issues: the impact on the intermediate areas between these major metropolitan areas and the creation of potential cross-border inter-regional services. The evidence shows how both levels of service and potential economic impacts have been much less pronounced in these intermediate areas. Such areas have been affected both by a failure to see greatly improved direct access to major cities other than within their own countries and a lack of new cross-border inter-regional services. The paper argues that the creation of the high-speed rail TEN-T has not met the primary objectives of reducing regional disparities in accessibility or reducing the effect of national borders on regional integration. To achieve this requires not just infrastructure provision but an appropriate regulatory framework for service provision and accompanying measures at the local level.     

Impact of high-speed rail on regional economic disparity in China

This paper investigates a fundamental question related to the massive railway infrastructure development in China. What is the impact of high-speed rail (HSR) on regional economic disparity? The question is investigated from three perspectives. First, the influence of HSR on regional economic disparity is discussed theoretically from the perspective of New Economic Geography. Second, the variation in economic disparity at both the national and regional levels is investigated using three indexes: the weighted coefficient of variation, the Theil index and the Gini index. Third, the linkages between regional economic growth and HSR is measured empirically from a quantitative and qualitative perspective using an endogenous growth modelling framework with a panel data covering the period 2000–2014. The rail network density is adopted as a proxy to reflect the quantity change in rail investment. Three accessibility indicators (weighted average travel time, potential accessibility and daily accessibility) are introduced to capture the improvement of HSR transport quality. Our findings confirm that regional economic disparity has been decreased since the development of HSR. HSR has promoted regional economic convergence in China. Specifically, the positive effect of rail network density on regional economic growth is found to be significant in the East and North, whereas the positive effect of accessibility change is found to be more significant in the Middle Reaches of Yangtze River, the Southwest and the South China.     

The effect of LCC market entry on dominant FSC's price into long haul sector: A case of Norwegian competition on British Airways' prices on selected transatlantic routes

The concept of long-haul low-cost operations has become somewhat appealing in the airline industry in recent years. In Europe, the rapid expansion of low-cost carrier Norwegian that entered the long-haul markets from several large metropolises (London, Paris, Barcelona, etc.) imposed a burden of challenges to full-service carriers (FSCs). However, Norwegian operates a large portion of its long-haul service from London Gatwick by offering flights mainly on high-density routes. Although Norwegian's capacity and market shares on these routes are still at a low level mainly due to the carrier's “puppy-dog” strategy, it seems that its effect on British Airways, the dominant carrier on these markets, cannot be ignored. The purpose of the research is to examine the extent to which the presence of Norwegian affects the prices charged by British Airways on three selected high-density transatlantic routes performed from London area. The model applies simultaneous equation systems to determine how the emergence of Norwegian affects the price and the passenger volume of British Airways, as a traditionally dominant carrier, at the city-pair markets. The findings are consistent with the well-established view held in the literature, that a LCC's presence at a specific market would generally affect the incumbents to reduce their prices. Indeed, British Airways announced the capacity expansion as a counter-strategy to mitigate the competitive pressure induced by Norwegian and its affordable service.     

Perspectives for a future high-speed train in the Swedish domestic travel market

Gröna tåget (the Green Train) is a research and development project with the aim to develop a high-speed tilting train concept for the Swedish and Nordic markets. Competition with other modes needs to be evaluated, especially as regards travelling times and fares, with special attention paid to domestic airlines.For new trains, gains in travelling times and lower operational costs can be expected. Model calculations of operational costs for domestic air stages and high-speed trains, respectively, show that high-speed trains have lower costs per available seat kilometer. Train operators can meet competition with fares from coaches and air carriers provided they introduce yield management. The primary competition is about travelling times. Gröna tåget would increase the train’s attractiveness and win over some travel from airlines.     

Impact of landing fees on airlines’ choice of aircraft size and service frequency in duopoly markets

A one-shot simultaneous game-theoretic model is applied in a duopoly market to investigate how airport landing fees could influence airlines’ decisions on aircraft size and service frequency. It is found that higher landing fees will force airlines to use larger aircraft and less frequency, with higher load factor for the same number of passengers. It is also found that airlines will be better off if some of the extra landing fees are returned to airlines as a bonus for airlines using larger aircraft, which consequently reduces airport congestion.